Government moving at 'glacial pace' over UN pact to protect ecosystems

THE Government is moving at a “glacial pace” to ratify a landmark UN pact to protect delicate ecosystems in international waters, a coalition of green groups has said.

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Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper

(STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA)

Eighteen environmental organisations called on Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to speed up the process on Saturday.

This was the day the High Seas Treaty came into force globally.

It comes after 81 other countries, including China, France, Japan and Brazil, ratified the agreement, meaning it passed the required threshold of 60 countries to become binding. The pact aims to see parties cooperate on conservation in areas beyond national jurisdictions as well as marine scientific research, bolstering global efforts to protect species such as sharks, whales and sea turtles.

While the UK signed the treaty in June 2023 and triggered the parliamentary process required to ratify it in September, it has yet to write the treaty into law.